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⟨st⟩ate of this colony, and the necessity of the ⟨c⟩onvicts being employed by those who have ⟨a⟩n interest in their labour. The numbers ⟨e⟩mployed in cultivation will be increased as ⟨th⟩e necessary buildings are finished but which will be a work of time; for there are num⟨b⟩ers in this settlement who do nothing towards their own support, except those employed for the public.
“In order to get a right knowledge of the country round the settlement, frequent excursions have been made since the ships sailed in November 1788; soon after which, ⟨I⟩ went to Botany Bay, and the five days spent in that harbour, confirmed me in the opinion ⟨I⟩ had first formed of it, that it afforded no eligible situation for fixing the settlement, and was a bad harbour, not affording good security for ships against the easterly winds, which frequently blow very hard in the winter: and which has been further proved by Captain Hunter, and the first lieutenant of the Sirius, who went to survey the Bay.
“After haying been several times with the boats at Broken-bay, in order to examine the different branches in that harbour, a river was found; but the want of provisions obliged us to return without being able to trace it to its source which has since been done; and in the 16 days we were then out, all those branches which had any depth of water, were traced as far as the boats could
